Nadine de Klerk admitted her first day back on English soil had been a whirlwind experience, but reaffirmed her commitment to The Blaze after taking a wicket and scoring 43 runs in a losing cause at Edgbaston.
de Klerk, the Blaze's 2023 player of the season, arrived on British soil mere hours before the start of her side's Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy opener, but was happy to have made an immediate impact.
"I landed in the UK at five this morning and got into a car and got to the ground around 7.30 so it's been a bit of a busy day, but playing for The Blaze is all worth it," she said.
"It wasn't the start to the season we wanted today but I am really happy I made it on time and was part of it.
"I have played a lot of cricket in the last couple of months so it was just about whether mentally I was up for the challenge.
"It's never easy getting off a plane and almost straight on to the field but I am really glad I was able to contribute."
de Klerk and Ballinger made a strong start with the new ball in Birmingham, with Ballinger ultimately taking three wickets.
Sophie Munro secured two scalps on an economical showing, but de Klerk admitted The Blaze felt they failed to capitalise on a productive bowling powerplay.
"We were a bit disappointed with the total they ended up on after the start we had," she said.
"They probably had 20 or 30 runs too many. Then we didn't apply ourselves properly with the bat but they bowled beautifully with the new ball.
"They made it really hard to score and then their spinners came on and made it really difficult too. All credit to the Sparks."
The Blaze face an expanded fixture list in the 2024 season, including four outings at Trent Bridge, as they bid to return to both domestic finals.
And de Klerk feels the side will benefit from the lessons learned in defeat to the Sparks.
"You always want to start the season well, but it's a long season and this is only the first game and there are a lot of positives and a lot of learnings to take from it," she said.
"I'm really excited by what is ahead of us in the rest of this season."
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The Blaze at Trent Bridge
The Blaze will appear at Trent Bridge on no fewer than four occasions this May - including a 50-over fixture as part of the Notts Street Food Festival, and a T20 double-header alongside Notts Outlaws.